Numerous types of conveyor roller systems have been proposed. Most known conveyor roller systems consist of a continuous belt or conveyor media which travels over a series of rollers. The rollers may be simple shafts on which may be mounted various forms of sprockets, or drive means for supporting the conveyor media. More advanced conveyor systems use enclosed and sealed drive rollers with the drive motors contained inside the rollers themselves.
The internal roller drives are sealed, and are not liable to contamination from the product being carried. Furthermore the product itself will not be contaminated by the drive system, which may require lubricants, and which may accumulate dirt, if exposed.
Conveyor systems are used in many industries to aid in the progressive movement of material from one place to another. This is well known in the art of conveyors. In many instances movement of specific types of material may cause damage to the conveyor system. Material may slip under the conveyor media and cause the conveyor rollers to become jammed, in the case of solid material contaminates. Contamination by liquid material may cause slippage of the conveyor media with relation to the conveyor rollers.
In the specific case of asphalt recycling, the application has a high amount of petroleum or oil that leeches out and attacks the conveyor media or belting and may adhere to either the roller face or the media. In some cases coverings known as “lagging” are provided on the rollers. Such lagging can also become contaminated. If the oil is allowed to build up on the roller, a potential problem of belt slippage on the roller may occur.
Transverse movement of the media across the roller is known as “tracking”. This may also be caused by build up of contaminants such as oil.
Contamination of the conveyor system in such a way may cause undue wear on the system or substantial downtime while the contaminants are cleared from the system. For many manufacturers, “stoppage” of a work line could cause significant losses. There is a need for a conveyor system that addresses the problem of clearing contamination from the conveyor system while in operation.